GDE750 – WEEK 10

Beginning the Writing Process and Establishing the Tone

This week marked the point where I finally stopped preparing and actually began writing the critical report. I had built up the introduction in my head so much that starting it felt like a barrier, but once I began drafting, the tone settled more naturally than expected. I decided early in the week that I did not want the introduction to feel detached or overly academic. It needed to reflect the personal connection I have to the topic, the cultural relevance of Barnsley dialect and the broader theoretical questions about representation that run through the project.

Moving into the first section of the report, I focused on defining dialect in a way that connects lived experience with theory. Crystal’s writing from Language Death provided a strong counterpoint to Hall because he discusses the emotional and cultural consequences of losing local and regional forms of language (Crystal, 2000). This helped me frame dialect as something fragile within a globalised design culture. Writing this section reminded me why this topic matters so much. It is not a niche subject. When dialect is removed from visual communication, it becomes socially and culturally invisible, which ultimately leads to erasure.

Even though the week was mainly focused on writing the introduction and the language section, I also began sketching out parts of the decolonising argument. This was heavily influenced by Madina Tlostanova’s writing on design and coloniality. Her argument that design often reinforces dominant structures made me think more critically about how modernist design traditions suppress regional voices under the umbrella of clarity and neutrality (Tlostanova, 2017). I did not write this section in full yet, but the ideas are sketched out, and I feel more confident about where they will sit later.

In between writing sessions, I kept revisiting design examples to make sure the writing stayed visually grounded. I used Tibor Kalman as a reminder that design can challenge conventions instead of reinforcing them. His belief that design should reflect real culture, not corporate expectations, helped me keep my tone honest. Kalman made me more comfortable writing in my own voice rather than slipping into something too formal.

By the end of the week, I had several pages drafted and a clearer sense of how the report will unfold. It felt like the beginning of something substantial rather than the overwhelming task it seemed at the start. The next step will be building the theory and decolonising sections in more detail.